Rap Genius Returns to Search Results after Google Lifts Sanction

It took a while, but the lyrics site has finally fixed its mistakes

One thing’s for sure – Rap Genius will not ever mess with Google’s ranking system ever again. After more than a week spent on Google’s black list, the lyric site seems to have returned to the search results pages.

In a lengthy blog post, Rap Genius admits that they overstepped and deserved “to get smacked.” “To Google and our fans: we’re sorry for being such morons. We regret our foray into irrelevant unnatural linking. We’re focused on building the best site in the world for understanding lyrics, poetry, and prose and watching it naturally rise to the top of the search results,” the message reads.

The site’s admins also thanked Google for being fair and transparent and allowing them to get back onto the results pages, before explaining exactly how their link-building strategy worked and how they fixed everything.

For those who are unfamiliar with the issue, Rap Genius tried to convince bloggers to include their links in various posts. In turn, they would help promote said blogs. Word got out to Google and they immediately went on an investigation which resulted in Rap Genius getting blacklisted. According to Search Metrics the site’s visibility dropped 92 percent following Google’s sanction.